‘Once Upon A Time’ Recap: Peter Pan Hatches His Final, Desperate Plan

With only two episodes left until ‘Once’s’ dreaded hiatus, Pan is reaching the end of his rope.

“Let’s get the hell out of Neverland.” That sentence, spoken by Emma (Jennifer Morrison) on the Dec. 1 episode of Once Upon A Time, is perhaps the sweetest collection of words I’ve heard all season. Of course, the gang’s exit strategy came with a few hiccups — and one very bad switch.

Regina (Lana Parrilla), who is now officially tired of taking crap from Peter Pan (Robbie Kay), embraced the evil persona she’s been trying to shake off all season, ripping Henry’s heart right out of Pan’s toothy little body. She also snatched up Gold-in-a-Box, which actually created more problems than it solved.

During the mass exodus from Neverland, Pan snuck onto the Jolly Roger for one last attack, attempting to separate Henry (Jared Gilmore) from his shadow. Though his plan was mostly thwarted, thanks to Rumple (Robert Carlyle) trapping him in Pandora’s Box, Pan did manage to switch bodies without anyone noticing.

Baby/Mama Drama

This week’s episode also transported viewers to the faraway land of Boston, Mass., where a young mayor named Regina first adopted — then briefly tried to abandon — a baby boy named Henry. With under-the-table assistance from Mr. Gold, a dose of handsome snark from Dr. Whale (David Anders) and a potion to forget her Emma-related fears, Regina and baby Henry settled nicely in Storybrooke.

(Not that Regina has ever done anything nicely.)

As a fun little bonus, we saw that Wendy’s brothers — Michael and Jon — had attempted to adopt Henry when Regina originally reneged on her commitment. It was nice to see them hard at work to save their sister, but can someone please explain to me why they were exactly the same age as they are in present day? I mean, that was 11 yearsago. And it was in Boston.

There’s no magic there, trust me.

(Update: Thanks to a very helpful commenter, I now know Pan had been keeping John and Michael young to find Wendy.)

HollywoodLifers, what did you think of this week’s (mostly filler) episode? Drop a comment with your review, and your predictions, below!